


(we've decided on) for keeps

by thisissirius



Series: love in shorts (tumblr) [2]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25955644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisissirius/pseuds/thisissirius
Summary: Eddie leans back against the lockers, wiping his sweaty palms on his knees. His body aches in a good way, after the burn of a good work out, and he’s taking his time getting ready to leave the firehouse. Chris is waiting for him, but he knows his Abuela won’t blame him for taking five.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: love in shorts (tumblr) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883830
Comments: 2
Kudos: 177





	(we've decided on) for keeps

Eddie leans back against the lockers, wiping his sweaty palms on his knees. His body aches in a good way, after the burn of a good work out, and he’s taking his time getting ready to leave the firehouse. Chris is waiting for him, but he knows his Abuela won’t blame him for taking five. 

“Hey,” Buck says, coming into the room. It’s been a slow shift, and they’ve only had a couple of call-outs. Eddie’s still not used to the slow ones. Buck’s spent most of it avoiding Eddie and he can’t pretend he’s sorry. Eddie looks up, working his bottom lip between his teeth. “All right?”Buck’s eyes dart from Eddie’s mouth back up to his eyes. “Are you?”

It’s almost like a challenge and Eddie doesn’t want to answer. He’s _tired_. “What do you want, Buck?”

“Maybe for you to talk to me.”

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Eddie says, tugging on a sweatshirt. 

Buck stands against the wall and he’s staring down at his hands, frowning. “You know what it’s like to have a sexual crisis at thirty?”

“You’re not thirty,” Eddie says, because he can’t think of anything else to say. Yeah, he does know what it’s like. 

“I’ve always thought I knew who I was,” Buck says, like he’s not hearing Eddie at all. “When I left home,” Buck’s mouth twists, “I only had my parents and Maddie as an example. Maddie’s husband, well, we know what he’s like.”

Eddie can only imagine what kind of influence he was on Buck, and Buck doesn’t talk about his parents at all. “Buck-”

“Please,” Buck says, looking pleadingly at him. “Let me say this?”

Swallowing around the lump in his throat, Eddie nods. 

“I thought, I’m gonna be better than that. And then I wasn’t.” Buck makes a face at himself. “Buck 1.0. What an asshole. I wanted to be better, especially after Abby. I thought, one day I’ll find a woman I love as much as her. Then you show up.”

Eddie’s chest tightens. 

“You’re my best friend, Eddie,” and there’s an edge of pleading to Buck’s voice now as well. “I don’t wanna ruin things between us and I’m sorry about last night but I don’t - I don’t know what to do with everything in here.” Buck points to his chest. “When I think of you, of Christopher, I’ve never - even with Abby, it wasn’t like this and I can’t lose you because I’m an idiot. Please.”

“You’re not gonna lose me,” Eddie says, knowing as he does that it’s true. “Buck, you’re always gonna be important to me.” 

It’s as if the strings are cut; Buck slides down the wall into a crouch, rubbing at his face. He lets out a slow breath, scrubbing at his face, and Eddie doesn’t mention the tears. He feels his own eyes burn in sympathy. 

“Buck, you just - you kissed me and left me alone.”Buck opens his mouth to say something, but Eddie plows on.

“I’ve been alone for so long, I’m afraid I don’t know what it’s like not to be.”

“Eddie,” Buck says, his voice full of emotion, and between one breath and the next, he’s standing in front of Eddie, his hands on Eddie’s thighs. “You’re not alone. You’ve never been, not since you came to LA.”

Eddie doesn’t know what to say to that. 

“You hear me, Diaz?”

“Yeah, I hear you.” Eddie lifts a hand, hesitates, and at Buck’s jerky nod, he rests a hand on the back of Buck’s head. His hair is soft, something he’s always known, but if feels - well, it’s better this way, isn’t it? “Buck-”

“You don’t have to know how to feel right now, Eddie.”

“I do know how I feel,” Eddie interrupts. “That’s what scares me. I’ve never - there’s been a couple of girls in college, Shannon - and you.”

Buck’s eyes are shining, and the smile that blossoms on his face is almost blinding. “So we’ll figure this out together?”

Eddie thinks of Christopher, of how much he loves Buck - and Buck loves him. He thinks of Abuelita and Pepa, who both ask after Buck _all the time_ and he doesn’t know what the future holds, and he’s terrified of being with a man, but it’s Buck. Buck, who’s never gonna let Eddie down again. Ever. “All right. Together.”

“You wanna,” Buck says, eyes darting back down to Eddie’s lips. “Try it again?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says, his voice gravelly. He leans in, thumb against Buck’s bottom lip. “You didn’t let me enjoy it yesterday.”

“My mistake,” Buck says, lips brushing Eddie’s own. Then they’re kissing, and Eddie’s eyes slipped closed. He can’t compare it to Shannon, to anyone else. It’s Buck, he knows it’s Buck because he’s _touching_ him, can hear the soft noise Buck makes as their lips touch. It’s not groundbreaking, there’s no angels, no heralds, it’s just them. Eddie’s skin prickles with heat, and he tilts his head until _there_. Now the kiss is close to perfect and he scratches lightly at Buck’s scalp. Buck makes a high noise in the back of his throat and shifts on his feet, presses in harder. When they part, Eddie’s breath comes in a quick gasp and his fingers slide down to the back of Buck’s neck. 

“Okay, yeah, we can do that again,” he says. 

Buck laughs, resting his forehead against Eddie’s shoulder. 

Yeah, there’s probably gonna be more freakouts, but if the kissing is like that all the time? Eddie doesn’t really mind. 

**Author's Note:**

> taking requests on [tumblr](http://thisissirius.tumblr.com/hitmeup)


End file.
